Monday, July 30, 2012

JONESBORO, Ark. -- Former Auburn running back Michael Dyer has been dismissed from the Arkansas State squad for violating team rules.

Arkansas State coach Gus Malzahn announced the decision Saturday, saying: "I am truly
disappointed that it didn't work out here at ASU for Mike. I wish Mike nothing but the best in the future."

Guh. "Violation of team rules" apparently equals "having a gun and weed in his car while
going 96 mph." The back story: Dyer got pulled over back in March and ticketed for speeding
(96 in a 70). That stop was investigated by the Arkansas State Police, and the report released Monday included video of the cop doing a bunch of hilariously unethical things (like dumping the weed) to make sure none of the really bad stuff ended up going on record. Dyer was totally on board, obviously. Result: Dyer gone.

Johnson was pulled over for speeding on a motorcycle in Iowa City on Saturday night -- doing 60 in a 25 mph zone -- but did not immediately pull over for officers. Then, after being pulled over, he put the motorcycle in the grass behind another vehicle and told officers it belonged to a fictional "Jake," according to the complaint.

Eluding is a serious misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in jail.

Two days earlier, Johnson was ticketed by Iowa City police for maintaining a disorderly house after neighbors complained of a loud party at his home.

Unsurprisingly, Johnson has been (temporarily) smoted from the roster via Kirk Ferentz, which leaves spring co-starter Damon Bullock and his 10 career carries as the only available back who has ever accumulated a statistic in a college game. There's also relatively highly touted freshman Greg Garmon, who was arrested last month on a misdemeanor marijuana charge but avoided a suspension.

Hilarious postscript: Johnson is the fifth (!!!) Iowa running back arrested/injured/dismissed this offseason. Hilarious postscript to the hilarious postscript:

Freshman Bri'onte Dunn was charged with possession of marijuana and drug paraphernalia after a traffic stop Saturday night in Alliance, Ohio. According to police, Dunn nearly hit a patrol car before he was pulled over. Officers allegedly found a pipe and small amounts of marijuana in the car.

Dunn also was involved in some shenanigans about a month ago, when he was arrested and charged with (or possibly just cited for, depending on your interpretation of the police report) failure to control.

THESE ARE TERRIBLE THINGS AND SHOULD DEFINITELY RESULT IN HIS DISMISSAL.

BTW, if/when Dunn gets suspended, the depth chart will be severely lacking guys who aren't
wrecking-ball types; Carlos Hyde and Rod Smith were listed as Hall's backups in the spring
(Dunn was nominally behind them) and are both 230-plus pounds. Freshman Warren Ball is closer
to Dunn's size at around 200 pounds and will be presumably be in the mix, even if it's by
necessity.

BATON ROUGE, La. -- Former Penn State quarterback Rob Bolden visited LSU over the weekend, asource close to the Tigers confirmed Sunday.

A source confirmed Monday morning that Bolden hasn't been on Penn State's team for more than a week. He was technically off the team once he was released from his scholarship -- before the NCAA's sanctions against the university were handed down, the source said.

This is what I wrote when he almost transferred (for the third time) back in May:

I have no idea why he's still at Penn State; he probably won't be by August ... or maybe tomorrow.

Jackpot.

Anyway, I have no idea what to make of the LSU thing; Zach Mettenberger will be the starter this year and next year barring something bad happening, which means Bolden would be transferring into a backup role 2,000 miles from home (he's from near Detroit) when there are presumably MAC and/or FCS schools that might actually give him the opportunity to, like, play (and probably complete more than 39.3 percent of his passes). Whateva.

Redd left Los Angeles on Monday after spending lots of time with Trojans quarterback Matt Barkley and wide receiver Robert Woods over the weekend, according to the sources.

A source said Penn State's leading rusher from last season will arrive from California this evening, then plans to drive to State College tomorrow, presumably to visit with Nittany Lions coach Bill O'Brien.

Redd will sit down with his family Monday night to discuss a potential transfer and could announce his decision as early as Tuesday afternoon, two sources close to Redd told ESPN.com's Josh Moyer.

I will either Ctrl+C/Ctrl+P my previous analysis or be impressed by Bill O'Brien's recruiting skillz whenever Redd actually does something; sounds like it'll be tomorrow.

The Big East Conference has discussed starting a new bowl game for its champion, likely in Florida, starting with the 2014 season, according to sources at Big East Media Days in Newport, R.I.

Because there's definitely a need for another bowl game. I understand the reasoning (establishing something with an inherent Big East connection that has controllable TV rights) but don't see why that couldn't be negotiated within the confines of the gajillion current bowls, some of which would undoubtedly be willing to upgrade from a Mediocre School A-Mediocre School B matchup to one that includes the Big East champ.

There's also this:

As opposed to an East-West Divisional format, momentum in the Big East is for a "zipper concept" splitting natural rivals like Boise State and San Diego State and Houston and SMU, who would then play each year in a potential 6-1-1 format, sources said.

The goal: ensure maximum travel and 0 percent recognition of the divisions due to a complete lack of geographical coherency. This is what happens without a commissioner.